Article assembling apparatus



June 13, 1944. E. L. MALHIOT 2,351,275

ARTICLE ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 1'7, 1942 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 13, 1944. E. MALI-no1 ARTICLE ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 17,1942

6 Sheets-Sheet 2 C, n.9 Nm.

/A/VE/VTOR T L. MAL f//or JAM; 9%

ATTO/WH June A13, 1944. E. l.. MALHloT ARTICLE ASSEMBLING APPARATUS Filed Nv. 17, 1942 v6 Sheets-*Sheet 3 I [il wmf/vra@ L. MALH/OT 8) Z4 t from/fr June 13, 1944. n E. l.. MALHloT l ARTICLE ASSEMBLING APPARATUS e sheets-sheet 4 Filed Nov. 17, 1942 E. L. MALHlo-r 2,351,276 ARTICLE ASSEMBLING APPARATUS June l13, 1944.

Filed Nov. 17, 1942 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 [75 4 aa F/G '/0/5 amI MNE/vm? T L. MAL H/or .Illlllh a@ June 13, 1944. E MALI-OT V2,351,276

ART I CLE AS S EMBLING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 17, 1942 6 sheets-sheet e lull |Il A TTORA/D Patented June 13, 1944i UNITED STATES PATENT vOFFICE 2,351,276 ARTICLE AssElvrLING APPARATUS Eugene L. Malhiot, Maywood, Ill., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 1'7, 1942, Serial No. 465,940

13 Claims.

This invention relates to an article assembling apparatus and more particularly to an assembling xture and apparatus for stripping assembled articles from said xture.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple apparatus for expeditiously assembling articles.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, an apparatusis provided for assembling parts of step by step bank equipment, including a xture on which the parts may be assembled and apparatus for stripping the parts from the fixture after they have been assembled together. The xture on which the parts are to be assembled comprises two sets of assembling plates, one of which is mounted on a pantograph arrangement so that it may be moved to and from position above the other level. The assembling plates each have a stripper plate associated with it and a series of pins extend through the stripper plates and are fixed in the assembling plates whereby, after parts are assembled on the plates and xed together in any suitable manner, the assembled parts may be stripped from the assembling plates by a stripper mechanism mounted for movement vertically to engage the assembly' and stripper plates and for -movement with the assembling xture as it travels along on a conveyor.

A better understanding of the invention will be had by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a plan view of an assembling hxture made in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows and showing some parts positioned on the fixture;

Fig. 4 is anenlarged longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the line 1 -4 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows with no parts on the xture;

Fig. 5 is a right end elevational view of the structure on an enlarged scale shown in Fig. l; Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical sectional View taken through the fixture showing one of the assembling plates moved to position directly above the other assembling plate and showing some of the assembled parts in position in the apparatus;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary transverse Vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 1-1 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the stripping mechanism for stripping parts from the fixture;

Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially along the line 9-9 of Fig. 8 in the direction of the arrows showing most of the stripping mechanism in end elevation. y

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line lil-l0 of Fig. 8 in the direction of the arrows showing part of the actuating mechanism for the stripping apparatus;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken substantially along the line Il-ll ci Fig. 10 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line i2i2 of Fig. 8 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to the bottom portion ofk Fig. l2, but showing parts of the stripping mechanism in operative position; and

Fig. 14 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line Ill-I4 of Fig. 13, also showing parts of the stripping mechanism in their operative position and, in addition, showing parts of the assembled apparatus in dot and dash lines and in the position which it occupies after the stripping mechanism has been operated.

By reference to the drawings, particularly to Figs. 1 to 7, kit will be seen that the assembling fixture comprises a carrier 2i), which supports two cooperating assembling sections 2l and 22. The carrier 2i) is provided with feet 23 and 24 which ride on a conveyor belt 25 (Figs. 8 and9). lsuitably fixed to the feet 23 and 24 are a pair of channelled members 26 and 2l, respectively, which form the ends of the carrier 2B. Extending between the channeled members 2B and 21 is an irregularly shaped sheet of metal 28, which is bent to form two pockets 29 and 3i) (Figs. 5 and 6) which extend throughout the length of the carrier 20. A portion 3l of the sheet 23 is bent into a vertical plane for forming one of the side walls of the pocket 30 and to this portion 3l there is iixed a bracket 32, the purpose of which will become apparent as the description progresses.

The assembly sections 2l and 22 are of the same construction and comprise pin supporting plates 35 and 31, the stripper plates 38 and 39, respectively. In the assembling section 2l, the

plate 31 is suitably attached, for example, by welding it to a pair of support levers 43 and 4|, which are positioned in the channel of the channelled'members 26 and 21, respectively and are pivotally mounted on pins 42 and 43 so that the pin supporting plate 36 vmay be rocked from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 6 to the position shown-in dot and dash lines in Fig. The plate 36 is suspended on the underside of the plate 31 by means of springs 4s and 45, which are interposed between the underside ci the plate 35 and shoulders 46 and 41 formed Y on pins 48 and 49 secured to the plate 311.

When the plate 36 is in the position shown in Fig. 2, it is supported adjacent its mid` portionV by a latch 5i), which is formed on thefunderside of a lever 5| and engages the underside of the plate 35. 52 xed in the plate 31 and is normally urged to move the latch under the plate 36 by a coil spring 5,3, vwhich is'v'xed to the pin 52'and engages the lever 5|'.A vThe-plate 3111sY Cut Gull as shown at 54V to permit ytlieglatch 5i! to-move in under the platef36. In this manner, the plate 35 is prevented from sagging away from? the plate 31 at the center of l the plates andV will. hold a series of positioning pins 55-55 56-56, which arefixed inthe plate 36 and extend through Y suitable apertures 51-51 and 58-58 in theplate 31 in their upper position, as shown infFig. 2. lWhenfthepins 55l and 55 are in the position shownfin Figs. 2 ,4,"5 and 6, parts may be assembled onthem in a manner illustrated most clearly in Fig. 6. K

VThe parts to be assembled inthe apparatus constituting the presentlembodiment of the invenf tion are step bystep bank subassemblies, which, in a previous operation, have been interconnected in a manner illustrated Vin- Fig. 3, Vwherein Ythe completely assembledfbanks are shown. These banks comprise a pluralityfof superposed insulators'65 having conducting-- members 66V attached to them `which have, in a previous operation, been interconnected by means or insulated wires'61, to l form a stripv of interconnected bank levels which are to be'assembled in the-present apparatus. In the assembling operations, the pileup of insulators with their'att'ach'ed conducting members 66 interconnectedl by the insulated wires 61 are yto-be attached togetherby placing holding plates 68-68 on each side of the pileup and passing bolts through aligned apertures formedin the topwrplate lia-and insulators 65 as indicated by the continuous passage 6.9.4(Fi'g. 6); The apertures in the lower plates 68are threaded to receive the bolts which may be passedthrough the passages 69 and threadedV into the lower plate 68. The

stripper plate-31 has aV series of holes 10 formed in it for receiving an embossed portion 1| of the plate 68 which is threaded to receive the assembling bolt and, in addition, the plate 31 is provided with arcuately shaped slots 12, into which a strengthening embossing on the plate 68 may extend.

After an assembly has been assembled on the necessary0 to strip themioil the positioning pins 55 and 58 and the apparatus to be described hereinafter for performing this Voperation will move 'the plate 36' downwardly with respect to the plate 31, thereby to compress the springs 44 and 45. When the plate 36 Yismoveddownwardly tothe The lever 5| is mounted vupona pin' position shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 4, it will be latched in its downward position by a spring pressed latch 15, which is L-shaped in configuration and has a latching portion 16 and 5 a handle portion 11. Interposed between the handle portion 11 and the plate 31 is a compression spring 38 for normally urging the latch 15 to rock in a clockwise direction about a pivot pin 19. The lower end of the latch portion 16 has a notch 8S cut in it for engaging the top surface of the plate 36 when the plate 36 is moved downwardly with respect to the plate 31. After the assembled.- parts have been removed from the assembling section 2|, the handle portion 11 of thespringpressed latch 15 may be pushed downwardly to release the plate 36 and to permit the plate to move upwardly under the action of the springs 44A and 45. There is a spring-pressed latch 15 provided at each end of the assembling section and each of them is of exactly the same construction. I

In addition to the mechanisms described hereinbefore as being'supported by or associated with the assembling sectionA 2|, there is: provided on the plate 31 a stud 82: havingta slot 83 formed in its upper surface. The studv BZeXtends upwardly from the plate 31 and is adapted to re,

ceive a reduced portion 84.-(Fig.` 4) of a post 485 within a central 4apertureA 86 formed in the stud 2.V There are two ofthe studs 82 provided on each plate 31 and these studs are adjacent opposite ends of the plate since'the post 85, which they are to receive, supportsa fixture adapted to hold parts of the apparatus being assembled during the soldering of leads to that particular part of the apparatus. The post has va socket 81 formed in it for receiving a studY shaft 88, which is pinned in the socket'81 by means of a pin 89 and which rotatably supports a` plate 90.' A head portion 9i on the stud shaft 88 engages a shoulder 92 formed in the plate 9|] and a spring 93 is interposed between the upper end'of the post 85 and the undersurface of the plate so that while the plate 9a may be rotated with respect to the stud shaft 8B, the spring `93jtends to lock the plate 36 in any rotative position. Upwardly extending portions 94 of the plate 9|) have hinged to them a clampingr plate 95 and interposed between the plate 90 and clamping plate S5 is a .spring 35, which normally urges the plate 95 to rock clockwise with respect tothe plate 9|). Fixed in the plate 9i) and extendingupwardly through the plate 35 is a post 91' having pinned to it a lever 38. on the end of' which there is formed an eccentric Si). When the eccentric 99 is rocked to the position shown in full lines (Fig. 5), it will rock the plate 95 counter-clockwise against the action of the spring 96 to clamp an insulator 65 and its attached conducting .members 66 in position, where leads |00 may be soldered to the terminals of the conducting members 66. Theleads ifiii (Fig. 3) extend to a terminal strip I0 which may be positioned in the pocket 30 provided for this purpose on the carrier 2B. One. insulator 65, and its attached conductor members 66, at' a time, may be placed betweenthev plate 90 and clamping` plate 95 while the leads from the terminal strip i 3| are attached to it and the insulator 35 may then be placed on the locating or positioning pins 56. Since the terminal strip ||l| may have its leads D0 extending from it at either end of the strip, the post 85 may be moved to either of the studs 82, depending upon the end of the terminal strip |0| from which the leads |00 extends.

'I'he assembling section 22 is exactlythe same as the assembling section4 2| except for the fact that while the assembling section 2| may be rocked from the position shown in full Vlines in Fig. to the position shown in dot and dash lines in that figure, the assembling section 22 may be moved from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 5 to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 6. Accordingly, a pantograph arrangement is provided for supporting the assembling section 22. This pantograph arrangement comprises two levers |03 and |04 set into the channel of each of thechanneled members 26 and 21 and pivoted therein by means of pivot pins |05 and |06, respectively. In addition to being pivoted in the channel members 26 and 21, the levers |03 and |04 extend upwardly into channel members |01 and |08 welded to the plate 39 at opposite ends thereof and the levers |03 and |04 are pivotally connected in the channel members |01 and |08 by means of pivot pins |09 and ||0, respectively. Attached to the plate 39 adjacent the center thereof is a downwardly extending stop member which will engage the bracket 32 when the assembly 22 is in the position shown in Fig. 5 and which will engage the top surface of the plate 31 when the assembling section 22 is in the position shown in Fig. 6.

The carrier is designed to be used in connection with conveyor systems including the belt 25 by means of which the carrier will be carried in a continuous path past a series of operator stations (not shown) where the various parts to be assembled will be placed on the assembling sections 2| and 22. After the parts have been assembled on the assembling sections 2| and 22 and bolted together, it is necessary to strip the parts from the positioning pins 55 and 56 and, accordingly, there is provided an apparatus for performing this operation, which apparatus is positioned adjacent the conveyor belt 25 and comprises the mechanisms shown in Figs. 8 to 14, inclusive. In Figs. 8 and 9, the conveyor belt 25 is shown travelling along the upper surface of a table |25, on which there are mounted a pair of hollow standards |26 and |21 (Fig. 8). Slidable in the hollow standards |26 and |21 are a pair of guide plungers I 28 and |29 having mounted at their upper ends brackets |30 and |3I, which support a track |32. The lower ends of the plungers |28 and |29 have racks |33 and |34, respectively, attached to them for cooperation with spur gears and |36 mounted upon a shaft |31. The plungers |28 and |29 thus must move upwardly or downwardly at the same 'time due to the fact that the racks on the lower ends of them are in mesh with the spur gears |35 and |36 fixed to the shaft |31. The shaft |31 is journalled in suitable bearings |38 and |39 secured to the underside of the table |25. A piston rod |40 is suitably attached to the bracket |30 and carries a piston |4| on its lower end in a cylinder |42. The cylinder |42 may be supplied with fluid under pressure through a hose connection |43 or a hose connection l|44 connected to its upper and lower ends, respectively, whereby the piston rod |40 may have reciprocation imparted to it by supplying iluid from a suitable source (not shown) through the hose connection |43 and |44. When liuid under pressure l is admitted to the lower end of the cylinder |42, the piston rod V|40 will be moved upwardlyand will carry the track |32 upwardly kwith it, the track maintaining a parallel relation with the table |25 due to the connection between the guide plungers |28 and |29 through theV racks 33 and |34 and their associated spur gears. In this man# ner, the track |32 and all of the mechanism supported by it may be raised or lowered.

Mounted for movement along the track |32 are two sets of rollers |50 and |5|, which are held in spaced relation one to another by a crossbar |52 fixed to downwardly extending projections |53 and |54, which extend downwardly from the sets of rollers |50 and |5|. |54 have chains |55 and |56 attached to them for suppOrting a stripper carrier designated generally by the numeral |51.

The stripper carrier |51 comprises a main framework |58 having extending downwardly from it a pair of locating pins |59 and |60 (Figs 8, 9 and 12`), which are adapted to pass through holes 6| and |62 in either the assembling section 2| or the assembling section 22 when the track |32 is lowered, handles |63 and |64 being provided on the main framework |58 for guiding the locating pins |59 and |60 into the holes in the assembling sections.

Extending downwardly from the framework |58 is a latch releasing pin |65, which is pointed, as

shown at |66 (Figs. 7 and 8) to engage in aligned apertures |61 in the plates comprising the assembling sections 2| and 22 so that the edge of the latch releasing pin |65 will cam the lever 5| counter-clockwise to move the latch 50V out of engagement with the lower plate in the assembling sections and thus permit the plates to be separated in a manner to be described hereinafter.

Mounted on the framework |58 are a plurality of rods |1|, which are xed at their upper ends to gear segments |12 (Figs. 16 and l2). The gear segments are in mesh with a rack |13, which extends across the framework |58 and is slidable longitudinally of the framework, being normally urged to the position shown in Fig. 10 by a contractile spring |14, which is xed to the rack and to a portion of the framework as shown at |15. The rack is provided with a handle |16, whereby it may be pushed to the right (Fig. 10) to rock the segments |12 in a clockwise direction against the action of the spring |14.' When the rack |13 is thus moved to the right, the rods |1| will be rotated and since the rods |1| are each provided at their lower ends with a cross member |11, which is normally in .alignment with the head of a forked member |10, the cross heads |11. will be rocked to a position at right angles to the head of the forked member |18. The upper portionl of the forked member |13 has a central passage |19, in which the rod l1! is rotatable. Each of the forked members |18 is slidable in a passageway |30 (Fig. l2) formed in the framework |58' and has a rack i6! on its rear surface in mesh with a gear segment |02. The gear segments |82 are fixed to a shaft |63 which extends across the framework E58 and is journalled in bearings |84. Adjacent the middleof the framework |56, a gear segment |35 isxed lto the shaft |83 and is in mesh with a rack |86 attached to thev lower end of a piston rod 01. The piston rod |81 (Figs. 8 and ll) is attached to a piston |88 slidable in a cylinder |69, which is mounted in any suitable manner on the'framework |58. The cylinder |89 may be supplied with fluid under pressure fromv any suitable source through either a pipe |90 or a pipe i9! under control of a manually operable valve |92-, which, when operated in one direction, will admit fluid through pipe |90 to the bottom of the cylinder The projections |53 and and when reversed, willadmit fluid to the top of thecylinder through pipe.l |9|.A Thevalve |92 may be of any suitable-type,- which', when manually operated, will admit Vvfluid selectively either tothe pipe |99 or-the pipe |9| andA whensthe uid is admitted tothe pipe |99 to raise the piston |93, fluidl will be permitted to Vescape from the upperend of the `cylinder |89 through the pipe |9| Thus, the operation of the rods |1| and forked member |18 may be jointly controlled by the valve |92 and the handle |19. i

Since the dow-nward movement ofthe forked member |18 will be prevented bythe cross head |11 when the cross head is in alignment with the forked member, it is necessary for the operator operating the apparatus to hold the handle |19 been performedthe valve |92 may be operated to cause'the forked member |18 to move downwardly with respect tothe rod |1|. When this occurs, the cross heads |11 will hold the plate 31 in its upper position and the forked member |18 will push the plate 39 downwardly against the action of the springs #Eiland lSand to thereby strip the pins 55 from the assembled article in the assembling section 2|.

l A better understanding of the invention may j be had by reference to the followingbrief description of the operation of the apparatus; A plurality of the carriers 29 may be providedY and may be transported on belts similar to the belt 25 past a series of operators stations, where the operators may assemble insulators S5 and their attached conducting members 56, together with holdingplates 98 on the pins 55 and 56 to build upan assembly. As the assemblies are built up. either the right hand or left hand assembly may be suitably attached to the leads |99 running to the terminal strips |9| by placing a sub-assembly of an insulator 65 and its attached conducting members between the plate 99 andyclamping plate 95 and after clamping the sub-assembly between the plates 99 and 95, oscillating the part to facilitate solderingr of the leads |99 to the conducting members 69.

In the assembling operation, the vpost c5 may betransferred to the stud 82 atreither end ofthe plate 31 and used in that position. After an assembly has been completed on the plate 31 and compressed by any suitable compressing means, the parts-may be attached `together by passing a bolt through the passage 69 formed by the aligned apertures in the various parts of the assembly and at the completion of the assembling and attachment of these parts, the assembling section 22 may be moved from the positionv shown in Fig. 5 to the position shown in Fig. 6, and parts may be assembled in the assembling section 22 inthe same manner as described in the assembling section 2| since all of the details of this section are identically the same asthedetails of the section 2|, the only difference being that the section 2| is mounted on the pins i2 and 43 so that it may be tipped to the position shown in dot-and dash lines in Fig. 5, whereas theatsembling section 22 is mounted on the panto- Y graph arrangement including the levers |53 and |94. After the assemblies have. been completed and yattached together' on the twolassembling sections, it will be necessary to forciblystrip the assemblies from the pins 55 and 56. As the carrier 29 moves along with the belt 25,. it will arrive in the area of the stripping mechanism shownin Figs. 8 to 14 and an operator may grasp the handles |53 and |94 to guide the stripping mechanism to position, where the pins |59and |69 are in alignment with the holes ISI and. |62 on the assembling section 22 and while guiding the stripper carrier |51 with the handles |63 and |64, may operate two buttons |98 and |99, both of which must be operated to admit the fluid under pressure through the hose connection 43, thereby to drive the carrier downwardly. The provision of the two control buttons |98 .and |99 necessitates an operator operating the mechanism to have both hands out of the path of the carrier and will prevent the operator from accidentally getting his hands inthe way of any of theA positively driven parts of the apparatus. After the stripper carrier |51..has been moved downwardly to .a point where the cross head |11 of the rod |1| engages the upper surface ofthe cut-out |91, the push buttons |99 and |99 may be released and the operator may then, with his left hand, operate the handle |19 to rotate all of the cross heads |11 to a position wherethey will engage-the shoulders |96 in the plate 31 or 39 and thereupon the operator, with his right hand, may operate the valve |92 to initiate the stripping operation. When the valve |92 is operated, the piston- |88 will be driven downwardly to rock shaft |83 counter-.clockwise (Figs. 11 and 12) to move the forked members |18 downwardly while the cross heads |11 hold the plate 31 against movement. The forked members |18l will push the plate 35 down and draw the pins 55 and 56 out of the articles, as shown in Fig. 14. When the plate 36 reaches its lowermost position, it will be locked by the latches 15 and after the assembled articles are removed from the carrier 29, the latches 15 may be operated to restore the assembling sec- .tions to normal position. After the parts have thus been stripped from lthe assembling section at that time associated with the stripper carrier |51, the Valve |92 may be operated'to return the forked member |18 to its upper position and the handle |15 may then be released to permit the spring |14 to return the cross heads to position in alignment with the forked member |18` When the cross head |11 and forked member |18 -have thus been restored to normal, the buttons |98 and` |99 may then be again operated to cause fluid under pressure to be admitted through the hose connection |44 to the lower end of the cylinder |42, thereby tov raise the trackv |32 and stripper carrier |51 out of association withthe carrier 29. When the apparatus is thus restored to normal, the assembled parts maybe removed from the assembling section 2| or 22, which had the parts stripped from it and the action repeated with thev other assembling section. When the forked member |18 pushes the plate Sii-downwardly, the plate will be locked under the spring pressed latches 15 and thus will remainv in that position until the latches are manually operated, although the forked member |18 maybe moved upwardly. After the just describedoperations have been performed, they may be repeated with respect to the other assembling section and the fixture will berestored to normal. It will be understood that the entire strippercarrier may be moved along with the carrier 20 as the carrier travels on the belt 23 so that the travel of the xtures through Vthe apparatus may be continuous.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination of a iixture including separable plates one of said plates provided with means for supporting articles during their assembly and the other plate being movable for stripping articles from said plate and said means, with stripping mechanism for moving said mov- 4able'plate comprising a trackway adjacent said fixture, a stripper carrier supported by and movable along said trackway to a position to align said carried with said fixture, and means supported by said carrier for engaging and moving the movable plate of the fixture to strip articles from the iixture.

2. The combination of a xture for supporting articles during their assembly including separable plates, one of which has article locating pins on it and the other one of which is movable for stripping articles from the locating pins, with stripping mechanism for moving said movable plate comprising a trackway adjacent said xture, a stripper carrier supported by and movable along said trackway to a position to align the carrier With the fixture, and means supported by said carrier for engaging and moving the movable plate of the xture to strip articles from the fixture by drawing the pins out of the articles.

3. The combination of a xture for supporting articles during their assembly including superposed separable plates, the bottom one of which has article locating pins fixed to it and extending through the upper plate which is movable and formsl a supporting base for the article, with stripping mechanism for moving said movable plate with respect to the plate having pins iixed to it to strip articles from the fixture comprising a trackway adjacent said iixture, a stripper carrier supported by and movable along said track- Way to a position to align said carrier with said fixture, and means supported by said carrier for engaging and moving the movable plate of the iixture to strip articles from the fixture by drawing the pins out of the article.

4. An apparatus for separating separable plates of a fixture comprising a trackway adjacent the iixture, a carrier movable along said trackway to align said carrier with the iixture, means for raising and lowering the trackway to carry the carrier into and out of association with a fixture, and means on the carrier engageable with the separable plates to separate them.

5. An apparatus for stripping articles from a fixture composed of separable plates, one of which has pins on it for locating parts of the articles and the other of which is movable with respect to the plate having pins on it comprising a trackway positioned adjacent a fixture, a stripper carrier supported by said trackway and movable along said trackway to a position to align said stripper carrier with said fixture, means for raising and lowering said trackway, means on said carrier for engaging parts of said iixture, and power means carried by said carrier for driving the means engaging the iixture to engage said separable plates and move them relative one to another for stripping the articles from the pins.

6. An apparatus for separating separable plates of a iixture comprising a trackway adjacent said xture, a carrier movable along said trackway to a position to align said carrier with said fixture, means for raising and lowering the traekway to carry the carrier into and out ci' association with a iixture, means on the carrier engageable with the separable plates to separate them, and power means on the carrier for actuating thexmeans engageable with the separable plates.

7. An apparatus for separating separable plates of a. fixture comprising a trackway positioned adjacent said fixture, a carrier movable along said trackway to a position to align the carrier with a fixture, means `for raising and lowering the trackway to carry the carrier into and out of association with a fixture, a rotatable rod supported by said carrier and having a cross head thereon engageable with the underside of one of the separable plates, a reciprocable member associated with said rotatable member for engaging the other of said separable plates, and means for imparting relative movement to the rod and reciprocable member to separate the plates.

8. An apparatus for separating separable plates of a fixture comprising a trackway positioned adjacent the fixture, a carrier movable along said trackway to a position to align said carrier and said fixture, means for raising and lowering the trackway to carry the carrier into and out of association with a fixture, a plurality of rotatable rods supported by said carrier, means common to said rods for rotating them, a cross head on each rod engageable with the underside of one of the separable plates, a reciprocable member also supported by the carrier and engageable with the upper surface of the other of the separable plates, and means for reciprocating the reciprocable member to push the plate associated therewith downwardly while the cross heads hold the other plate in a predetermined position.

9. In an apparatus for separating the separable plates of a iixture, a plurality of forked reciprocable members having surfaces to engage one of the separable plates of a xture, a plurality of rods each rotatable between the forked portions of a forked member, a cross head on each of said rods, common means for rotating said rods to move the cross heads to position to engage a surface of another of the separable plates of a fixture, and means operable to reciprocate the forked members relative to said rods separating the plates, said cross heads being normally positioned to .block movement of the forked members.

10. An assembling xture comprising a carrier, shiftable assembling sections on said carrier each comprising a pair of superposed plates, the lower plate having locating pins therein extending through the upper plate for locating parts of articles on the upper plate, and resilient means tending to hold the lower plate against the underside of the upper plate to hold the locating pins in position to receive parts comprising a pin attached to and extending downwardly from the upper plate through the lower plate, and spring means interposed between a portion of the pin and the underside of the lower plate.

11. An assembling xture comprising a carrier, shiftable assembling sections on said carrier each comprising a pair of superposed plates, the lower plate having locating pins therein extending through the upper plate for locating parts of articles on the upper plate, and resilient means for urging the lower plate against the underside of the upper plate to hold the locating pins in position to receive parts, said lower plate being movable downwardly to strip the pins from articles and said resilient means including a pin fixed in the upper plate and extending through the lower plateg'and a-springinterposed between the undersurace ,of the lower plate and a portion of said pin. 4 Y

12. An assembling xture vcornprising a carrier, shiftable assembling sections on said carrier each comprising a pair of superposed plates, the lower plate having locating pins therein extending through the upper plate for locating parts of articles on the upper plate, resilient means tending to hold the lower plate against the underside of the upper plate to hold the locating pins in position to receive parts, said lower plate being movable downwardly to strip the pins from articles, and latching means for latching the lower plate in its downward position.

13. An assembling fixture comprising a'c'arrier, shi'ftable assembling sections'onsaid Acarrier each comprising a pair of superposedplates, the lower plate having locating pins .therein extending through the upper plate for vlocating parts of articles on the upper plate, means tending to hold the lower plate against the underside of the upper plate to hold the locating pinsv in position to receive partssaid lowerplate'being movable downwardly tostrip the pins from articles; and spring-pressed manually 'releasable latching means forv latchingthe 4lower 'plate away from the upper plate. y l Y AEUGENE L. MALI-HOT. 

